The Football League (EFL) has apologised for changes forced upon it for Wednesday’s League Cup draw.
Round three will feature at least two Yorkshire clubs and a maximum of five, with the ten Premier League sides playing in European football joining the competition. However, the bloated nature of the Champions, Europa, and Conference Leagues has made it impossible for the organisers to hold a traditional open cup draw.
The involvement of so many English clubs necessitated the inclusion of a preliminary round, which complicates round three, which must be extended over two weeks so that the first matches in the Champions League and Europa League group stages may be played in consecutive weeks for maximum television exposure.
The Conference League proper, which Crystal Palace hopes to qualify for, does not begin until October. The draw will be shown live on Sky Sports following Grimsby Town’s televised game against Manchester United on Wednesday. Yorkshire’s involvement will be known by then, as Accrington Stanley against Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley v Rotherham United, Sheffield Wednesday vs Leeds United, Stoke City vs Bradford City, and Sundeland vs Huddersfield Town all conclude on Tuesday.
“As UEFA competition fixtures cannot be rescheduled, and to enable the Carabao Cup to proceed within its agreed schedule without disrupting other league or domestic cup fixtures, clubs participating in the Champions League or Europa League cannot meet each other in round three of the League Cup,” the Football League announced. “This will ensure that both teams drawn in each tie will be able to fulfil the fixture in one of the allocated weeks.”
Games will be played in the weeks starting September 15 or 22. “It would always be the EFL’s preference to conduct the draw in the traditional manner, but these changes have been forced upon us for the second season in succession as a result of UEFA’s failure to consult with the leagues of Europe prior to finalising its competition schedule,” the Football League claimed. “These conditions will not be required for ties in round four.”
For the main draw, two distinct bowls will be used: one for the eight Champions League and Europa League clubs and one for the remaining 24, necessitating a pre-draw to determine whether the European teams will play at home or away.
The first eight ties will be drawn by alternating between bowls to determine who confronts which side, followed by a conventional draw from bowl two for the remaining ties. At least one difficulty has been removed, as matches are no longer divided into north and south as they were in the first two rounds.
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